Behavior

Photo by: Levichev Dmitry

Behavior is the way that all organisms or living things respond to stimuli
in their environment. Stimuli include chemicals, heat, light, touch, and
gravity. For example, plants respond with growth behavior when light
strikes their leaves. Behavior can be categorized as either instinctive
(present in a living thing from birth) or learned (resulting from
experience). The distinction between the two is often unclear, however,
since learned behavior often includes instinctive elements. Plants and
animals that lack a well-developed nervous system rely on instinctive
behavior. Higherdeveloped animals use both instinctive and learned
behavior. Generally, behavior helps organisms survive.

Plant behavior

The instinctive behavior of a plant depends mainly on growth or movement
in a given direction due to changes in its environment. The
growth or movement of a plant toward or away from an external stimulus is
known as tropism. Positive tropism is growth toward a stimulus, while
negative tropism is growth away from a stimulus. Tropisms are labeled
according to the stimulus involved, such as phototropism (light) and
gravitropism (gravity). Plants growing toward the direction of light
exhibit positive phototropism. Since roots grow downward (with gravity),

Words to Know

Ethology:
The scientific study of animal behavior under natural conditions.

Operant conditioning:
Trial-and-error learning in which a random behavior is rewarded and
subsequently retained.

Stimulus:
Something that causes a behavioral response.

Tropism:
The growth or movement of a plant toward or away from a stimulus.

Acts of aggression by animals toward one another can be caused by
reasons ranging from the protection of their young to territory
disputes.
(Reproduced by permission of

Animal behavior

The scientific study of animal behavior under natural conditions, known as
ethology, focuses on both instinctual and learned behavior. Ethologists
look at an animal's environment to see how events in that
environment combine with an animal's instincts to shape overall
behavior. This is especially important in the developing or early stages
of an animal's life.

Animals exhibit various levels of instinctual behavior. On a elementary
level are reflexes. A reflex is a simple, inborn, automatic response of a
part of the body to a stimulus. Reflexes help animals respond quickly to a
stimulus, thus protecting them from harm. Other instinctual behaviors are
more complex. Examples of this kind include the nest-building behavior of
birds and the dam-building behavior of beavers.

Imprinting.
An example of animal behavior that combines instinct and learning is
imprinting, often seen in birds such as geese and ducks. Within a short,
genetically set time frame an animal learns to recognize and then bond to
its parent, helping it to survive its infancy. Newly hatched geese or
goslings are able to walk at birth. They quickly learn to recognize the
movements of their parents and then follow them. If the parents are
removed within the first few days after birth and are replaced by

A Canadian goose with her goslings in the Ottawa National Wildlife
Refuge in Ohio.
(Reproduced by permission of

Field Mark Publications

.)

any moving object, the goslings imprint or bond to that object, learning
to follow it.

Animals often add to their set of instinctual behaviors through
trial-and-error learning, known as operant conditioning. Young chimps, for
example, watch their parents strip a twig and then use the prepared stick
to pick up termites from rotten logs. When the young chimps repeat this
procedure, their behavior is rewarded by the meal of termites, a preferred
food. This reward teaches the chimps to repeat the same behavior when next
hungry.

Courtship behaviors.
There are many kinds of interactive behavior between animals. One of them
is courtship behavior, which enables an animal to find, identify, attract,
and arouse a mate. During courtship, animals use rituals, a series of
behaviors performed the same way by all the males or females in a species.
These include leaping and dancing, singing, the ruffling of feathers, or
the puffing up of pouches. The male peacock displays his glorious plumage
to the female. Humpback whales announce their presence under the sea by
singing a song that can be heard hundreds of miles away.

Group behaviors.
Some animals live together in groups and display social behavior. The
group protects its members from predators, and allows cooperation and
division of labor. Insects, such as bees, ants, and termites, live in
complex groups in which some members find food, some defend the colony,
and some tend to the offspring. Hierarchies or ranking systems help reduce
fighting in a group. Chickens, for example, have a peck-order from the
dominant to the most submissive. Each chicken knows its place in the
peck-order and does not challenge chickens of higher rank, thereby
reducing the chances of fighting. Interactions among group members get
more complex with more intelligent species such as apes.

I have a "Silver Queen" house plant & was wondering about it's behavior. It seemed strange but a few months ago I gave some of it's offspring to a friend & the plant went downhill badly, it looked like it would never survive. This friend passed away a few weeks ago & I got the small plants back. The main plant has made a 100% recovery when the offspring was placed near ir & even perked up , has new growth & actually began leaning on the small plants. I have now replanted them & put them all back together in the same pot. They all seem to be happy & growing beautifully. Do you have any info on this kind of behavior?? I would appreciate if there is anyinfo to be given. Thank You, Robert Nolan

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